Washington's Most Historic Towns

Washington's history includes Native American civilizations of extraordinary sophistication, the British and American fur trade, the Oregon Trail era, and the gold rush-era Seattle growth.

Port Townsend
A Victorian seaport at the northeastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula — one of the finest collections of Victorian commercial architecture on the Pacific Coast. In the 1880s, Port Townsend was expected to become the Seattle of the Pacific Northwest; the railroad went to Tacoma instead, and the town's Victorian character was preserved by economic stagnation. Fort Worden State Park (the former military coastal defense installation, now a conference and arts center) is a major attraction. The Centrum arts festival brings world-class music and arts programs here each summer.

Walla Walla
Founded by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman as a mission in 1836 (the Whitmans were killed in an 1847 conflict with Cayuse people — a critical turning point in Pacific Northwest history). Fort Walla Walla Museum preserves this history. In the 20th century, Walla Walla has emerged as one of the finest wine-producing regions in the US — more than 100 wineries in the surrounding Walla Walla AVA.

Coupeville (Whidbey Island)
One of the oldest towns in Washington State (1852), Coupeville's wooden commercial buildings and 19th-century homes along the Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve are extraordinarily well-preserved. Ebey's Landing is the first and only National Historical Reserve — a living agricultural and maritime community protected as a historic landscape. Penn Cove mussels, farmed in the sheltered waters nearby, are among the most prized in the Pacific Northwest.

Steilacoom
Washington's oldest incorporated town (1854), Steilacoom retains several original buildings. The Steilacoom Tribal Cultural Center and Museum documents the history of the Steilacoom Tribe, one of the first Native nations to sign a treaty with the US government in Washington Territory.